I love the unique & decadent taste of uni, and will always order and buy it fresh. This is a dish that incorporates some of my favorite ingredients like pancetta, pasta, and uni. It’s also an opportunity to utilize those fancy salts and seasonings that we have in our pantry. I will warn you that this is a very rich dish so a little goes a long way.
Ingredients
- 2-4 ounces chopped pancetta, prosciutto, or bacon
- 4 ounces uni (sea urchin) without shell
- 1/4 pound linguine pasta or your choice of pasta
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 clove finely minced garlic
- Garnish (optional): soft boiled egg, chiffonade nori strips, seasoned salt (wasabi salt, Hawaiian sea salt, or fleur de sal), pepper, chives or togarashi (Japanese red pepper)
Directions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the pasta so it is al dente.
- Melt butter in a medium skillet at medium heat.
- Add the pancetta, prosciutto or bacon and cook until crispy.
- Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds to 1 minute. You do not want to burn it.
- Add heavy cream and bring to a simmer.
- Add half of the uni and whisk to mix together.
- Toss the cooked pasta to coat the noodles.
- Plate the pasta and place the remaining uni on top.
- Garnish with your choice of salt, pepper, nori, chives, togarashi, & soft boiled egg.
- Serve immediately.